Vodafone and Google expand AI partnership

Will deliver generative AI services on Pixel devices to customers in Europe and Africa

The partnership will see the rollout of AI-powered Pixel devices and the expansion of the Android ecosystem via Vodafone’s 5G network.

Vodafone and Google have announced a 10-year expansion of their strategic partnership to deliver generative AI services and devices to customers in Europe and Africa.

The collaboration will use Google’s Gemini AI models and Google Cloud's infrastructure to enhance Vodafone's offerings, the pair said.

The partnership will see the rollout of AI-powered Pixel devices and the expansion of the Android ecosystem via Vodafone’s 5G network. Customers will also see ‘improvements’ in Vodafone TV, with enhanced search, content recommendations, and advertising features, supported by Google Cloud AI.

The deal will also include the development of a new cloud-native cybersecurity service which will use Google Cloud’s Security Operations platform, as well as offering Google cloud storage options for customers.

The new announcement strengthens Vodafone’s partnership with Google, which already provides analytics and marketing services with its Android operating system powering the firm’s set top boxes.

Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group chief executive, said: “Together, Vodafone and Google will put new AI-powered content and devices into the hands of millions of more consumers. Using these services, our customers can discover new ways to learn, create and communicate, as well as consume TV, on a scale we haven’t seen before.”

Sundar Pichai, Google and Alphabet CEO, added: “Our expanded partnership with Vodafone will help bring our most advanced AI products and services, including our Gemini models, to more people across Europe and Africa.

“I’m excited to see how Vodafone’s consumers, small businesses and governments, will use generative AI and Google Cloud to transform the way they work and access information.”

The announcement follows a setback for Vodafone's planned merger with competitor Three, after the UK's competition regulator raised concerns over the deal.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally determined that the merger could result in higher prices for millions of mobile users or force customers into less favourable deals, such as smaller data allowances within their contracts.

The CMA expressed specific worries that increased costs or diminished services would disproportionately impact those least able to afford mobile services, while others may have to pay more for network upgrades they may not value.

In response, Vodafone and Three stated they disagreed with the CMA's assessment, arguing the merger would resolve issues in the UK’s "dysfunctional mobile market."